New York Rangers Just Cannot Trade For An Elite Goal Scorer

By Steven Carollo

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers‘ offensive inconsistencies plagued them once again last night by falling at home to the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0. This has many Rangers’ fans foaming at the mouth demanding for the Rangers to trade defenseman Michael Del Zotto and forwards Benoit Pouliot and Taylor Pyatt for an elite goal scorer.

First of all, who in their right mind would trade an “elite” goal scorer for those three players. You would be lucky to even get John Scott from the Buffalo Sabres for all of those guys. This is the dilemma the Rangers face. All of the players the Rangers do not want to give up in a deal are the only ones other teams would want for a goal scorer; you cannot just trade a bunch of ineffective players and expect something great or even good in return.

If the Rangers want to get an elite goal scorer, then they would have to trade names like Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Carl Hagelin or maybe even Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh or, dare I say it, Henrik Lundqvist. At least one of those names would have to be in a trade if the Rangers want a sure thing to help fix their offensive woes.

However, there is still a problem if the Rangers shock many and make a significant deal like that. If you trade one or more of those names previously mentioned, then the Rangers will be sacrificing so much depth that even with another elite scorer on the team, the Rangers will most likely score the same amount of goals they are now or even worse.

This is why the Rangers just cannot trade for more goal scoring. In many scenarios, unless GM Glen Sather fleeces another GM, a trade of that caliber would harm the Rangers more than it would help them.

Steven Carollo is a New York Rangers’ and sports writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, add him on Facebook, connect with him on LinkedIn and join his Google network.